ZooNooz Article - SEPTEMBER 2007

Meerkats on the move

As families progress through the years, the dynamics often change: children grow up and move out, some even move back in (especially when they're broke) and older members eventually die. Meerkat families are no exception to some of these changes, writes MAGGIE CRUTCHER.

Photographs Brian Chant

Until recently, Taronga Zoo's meerkat family of nine siblings lived contentedly together, sometimes squabbling as brothers and sisters do, but mostly co-existing peacefully. Five boys and four girls, the eldest of which are Etosha and her brother Otavi, have remained a stable group since their elderly parents died a couple of years ago. According to Carnivore Unit Supervisor, Louise Ginman, the sibling group has been really easy to manage, but this is all changing!

The four females of the group moved out and the five males were left on their own. Why would such a stable group split up? It all comes down to that three-letter word, sex.

For enlightenment, we refer to Peter Wood from Perth Zoo, the Species Co-ordinator for meerkats in the Australasian region. His job entails holding and updating the studbook, which keeps pedigree records, both current and historical, for all meerkats in the region. He can tell how any animal, in any of the zoos in the region, is related to any other and he has now implemented a plan for the future breeding of meerkats in this region.

Thus the decision was made to split up the sibling family at Taronga. Which brings us back to our five lonesome bachelors. The time was ripe for some romantic activity.

With their four sisters having gone west to Perth Zoo, where they would bring genetic variety to that zoo's meerkat family, the Bachelor Five waited to be introduced to five new females. Taronga Zoo received a mother and four daughters from Mogo Zoo on the south coast of NSW and they, having completed a 30-day quarantine period, have now joined the five brothers in their enclosure.

The introduction was expected to be quite easy, meerkats being sociable animals. But just to be certain, there was a lot of activity behind the scenes by the keepers to ensure it all went smoothly.

Over several days after Etosha and her sisters departed Taronga Zoo, the keepers had to eliminate all signs, particularly smells, of their presence in the enclosure.

This included churning up the old substrate of soil and rocks (recent rains helped) and then thoroughly cleaning and scrubbing the holding yard for the same reason. At the same time, though, they had to be careful not to eliminate all signs and smells belonging to the brothers.

The males also needed time to adjust to the absence of their sisters and thus establish the enclosure as their domain, an added precaution to ensure the introduction ran smoothly.

Although this type of introduction should present minimal problems, it's what is likely to happen a few months on that could be the cause of trouble and strife. Volatile times are ahead and Louise and her fellow keepers will need to be on their toes. The reason is found in meerkat family structure and behaviour.

In the wild, meerkat families generally have a dominant, or alpha, male and female pair who do all the breeding. If a lesser female happens to produce young, the dominant female will most likely kill those pups to ensure that her own have the best chance of survival. The offending female may also be expelled from the group; at the very least, she will almost certainly be beaten up by the dominant female.

At the moment, the mother of the Mogo group is the dominant female, but her daughters are now at the optimum breeding age of between three and four years. Once they get a look at our handsome males, there could be many "kat" fights amongst the females to try and establish a new dominancy. The mother may well be toppled from her perch. The Taronga brothers, too, will be "flexing their muscles" each wanting to become the dominant male to pair up with the alpha female.

Meerkat fights can be very vicious when dominance issues are at stake, particularly among the females - they have breeding rights to establish. If an animal is injured, however, the veterinary staff needs to treat the animal and return it to the enclosure the same day, as an absence of even one day may mean it would not be accepted back into the group by the others. Its place in the hierarchy would be taken by another meerkat and the injured animal would be shunned. Any injuries, therefore, need to be managed on-site.

But once the dust has settled and the dominant breeding pair is established (hopefully without too much skin and hair flying), then this newly formed group should become a cohesive family unit once again.

The dominant pair should then settle down and do what they are designed to do best - lead the group well and, of course, breed.

Because meerkats can have up to four litters per year, with, on average, three young per litter, the plan for our group is to breed them this year up to the capacity of the exhibit (approximately two or three litters), then stop. The keepers have permission to use contraceptives if needed and this is indeed a likely event, for two reasons: female meerkats have what is known as postpartum oestrus, which means they can come into season again within three days of giving birth! And secondly, all the new females are of breeding age and ... well, accidents do happen.

However, assuming that all goes according to plan and the dominant female falls pregnant, she will have a pregnancy of approximately 11 weeks, with her young being born in one of the nesting boxes off display at the back of the enclosure. The nesting boxes are connected by PVC tubing to the outside enclosure, which will allow mum to come and go as she pleases during her confinement. When the newborn pups are old enough, they too will be able to use the tunnel to join their aunts and uncles, who will all play an important part in looking after and instructing the youngsters as they grow.

Meerkats are fascinating animals - on the one hand feisty and aggressive and, on the other, gentle and very sociable. May I suggest a visit or two to "Meerkat Mansion" at Taronga Zoo over the coming months to see just how the merger of two families plays out. It certainly won't be dull.

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